This invention relates to personal security devices and particularly to a portable personal alarm or signaling device. Concern about personal security against street crime has prompted the development of many kinds of portable alarms and signaling devices attempting to discourage mugger, and other criminals from continuing an attack after an alarm is sounded. Typical of such devices are those disclosed in the King U.S. Pat. No. 3,832,705, Yannuzzi U.S. Pat. No. 3,614,763 and others. The concepts described in King for the activation of a personal alarm device are salutory since most street crime does involve the surprise of an intended victim, making it difficult or impossible for the victim to activate any device for protection or alarm.
It is important, however, when present in high crime areas that the alarm not only be easily actuated but, also, loud, insistant and not easily defeated. The prior art devices while each attempting to accomplish some of these objectives in some measure depended for their effectiveness on the ignorance of the attacker in being able to overcome the actuation mechanism, and in this regard they were not "fail safe" against an attackers knowledge of such devices.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved personal alarm device that is capable of being actuated quickly and surely even in the event of a surprise criminal attack.
It is, also, an object of this invention to provide a personal alarm which can not be deactivated by a criminal or accomplice.